RUSSIAN AFFAIRS.

Press, Volume LV, Issue 16414, 7 January 1919, Page 7

RUSSIAN AFFAIRS.

A BOLSHEVIST DECREE

OUTRAGE AGAINST WOMEN",

(Bv Cab'e P r c«3 Assochtios.— Copyright.) ' iEeuUrs Telegram!.) PETIIOGKAD, January 3. The Town Council has decided that all unmarried women between tue ages Of eighteen and torty-iive shal be provided with husbai.us selected bj tiie Council. The children ot these unions will be educated under the control of the Soviet Gov einmont. The Northern Commune, including Petrograd, is enforcing the nationalisation of women between eighteen and foi'ty-five year.-, who will bo foicea to accept State-chosen husbands. The children will not remain under family control, but will be brought up by the State. . , , Lord Denbigh hns forwarded a copy of the Bolshevists' decroe. which declares that every woman of eighteen vonpo sh-'l be national prorerty, and must register at the "Bureau of Freo Love," where both somvi will be cornpcllei to assemble montnlv lor the of so'ecting husbands and wives. Those selected will have no right of refusal. M. GORKY JOINS SOVIET. PARIS, January 5. "Le Matin" states that 31. Gorky lias become a member of the Petrograd Soviet. TO CONQUER BOLSHEVISM. (Australian and X.Z- Cable. Association.) COPENHAGEN, January 4. Tho Baltic Provinces are organising against the Bolshevists on a joint front, running through Livonia, Esthonia, and Courland to Lithuania. WHOLESALE CRIME. (Australian and N.jJj. Cablo Association.) (Rcuter'e Telegrams.) (Received January Cth, 7.45 p.m.) LONDON, January 5. The Bolshevists in Esthonia are employing 60ven thousand Chinese, who are robbing, burning, and assassinating everywhere. COMPULSORY SERVICE. COPENHAGEN, January 4. Travellers from Petrograd report that the Government is nervous, and is mobilising all officers up to sixty years and compelling them to enter the Rod Army. All bridges insido and j outside Petrograd have been mined, ■ and preparations are being made for a speedy departure. A GERMAN REVERSE. (Renter's Telegrams.) COPENHAGEN, January 4. The German troops who -were forced to withdraw a short distance from Riga had to abandon thousands of their comrades arid an enormous quantity of property to the Bolshevists. (Australian and N./i. Oublo Association.) (Received January 6th, 7.10 p.m.) * COPENHAGEN, January 5. A wireless message from a steamer off Riga, with refugees, states that Bolshevists have entered the town, and fierce street fighting is proceeding. BRITISH BOMBARD RIGA. (Australian nnd .2. Cubl*> Association*) (Received January 6th, 11.30 p.m.) COPENHAGEN, January 5. British warships landed guns and ammunition at Reval and Riga, and bombarded the Bolshevists at Riga, where they number 40,000. TERRIBLE STREET FIGHTING. C'The Times.") (Received January 7th, 12.5 a.m.) LONDON. January 6. Advices from Berlin detail terrible street fighting at Riga and many murders. The Bolshevists, who control the district, are splendidly equipped, including artillery. They have levied an indemnity of four and a half million roubles. POPULATION STARVING. AT.T.TKT) ASSISTANCE WANTED. (Australian and N.&. Cable Association-) (Received January 6tli, 11.30 p.m.) LONDON, January 6. Accounts from Russia show that the great mass of the population is starving upon an ounce to four ounces of black bread and a little fish daily. The Bolshevist army, wliich now numbers COO,OOO, is well fed and receivirig £60 monthly. The situation in the provinces is worso than in Petrograd and Moscow. The local Soviets, called Committees of the Po6r, consist of illiterate ruffians, often the possessors of a criminal past. They are supported by bands of brigands, who pillage the people. These committeos sometimes so angered the peasantry that the latter buried them alive. The Bolshevists then wiped out tho peasantry. They are afraid to requisition food from the peasants for fear the latter would hide the corn.

Accounts say that active help is renuired from the Allies, particularly Caucasus, to rehabilitate the country. CRUEL SUFFERING. PRINCIPLE OF FOOD SUPPLY. ("Tho limes.") (Received January 7th, 12.15 a.m.) January 6. The revolt of the peasantry continues, though it is being ruthlessly repressed. In despair the peasants cut the railroads, thus stopping the transport of food. There is no fuel in Moscow. The labourers who moved into the palaces are suffering bitterly from the intense cold, and their old homes have fallen to pieces, as repair work was stopped when they moved into the palaces. As many factories have stopped working, the Soviet Government has ordered men to do any work provided for them without the right to strike.. This compulsory labour decree has aroused intense discontent. The Soviet Government meanwhile has assigned sixty-four million roubles to the Revolutionary Propaganda Fund for activity in foreign countries. A delegation representing all Moderates, including Socialists, has reached London via Odessa. They tell of the critical situation created by the Bolshevists in Northern and Central Russia, which threatens a renewal of starvation and the annihilation of Russian civilisation. All newspapers, except the Bolshevist, have been suppressed. Justice in the Law Courts does not exist. For the most part youngsters of eighteen have replaced the dismissed Magistrates. People are frequently shot by their guards whilo being taken from one prison to an-

other. The Soviet is flooding tlie country with worthless paper money. The national food supply is based on the principle that only the Bolshevist is entitled to regular food. JAPAN 'WITHDRA'WS TROOPS. LONDON. January 5. The Tokio correspondent of the "Dailv Express" states that the \\ar Oifico" announces that 34.000 Japanese troops have been withdrawn from Liberia. Japan is only maintaining the smallest forces there. A-hed_ and American observers criticise the intervention, which is a relative lailure owing to the Allies' disunity.